A TIMEOUT WITH A STREETBALL LEGEND THE MAIN EVENT!

It's been 14 years since the first AND 1 mixtape was released. It became a phenomena like no other spreading like a wild fire across the 50 states. Whoever came up with the idea of video taping a Streetball game and selling it to the general market I'm pretty sure is paid beyond paid and I’m not talking about a regular wealthy mans pay check, I’m talking about enough money to buy 2 to 3 space shuttles with a dining set and a 50 inch plasma on the inside.

In the early new millennium if you played any kind of basketball you were a witness to mind boggling crossovers, unforeseen alley oops, and dunks that took the imagination of hoopers everywhere to a new realm. It was like the Harlem Globetrotters but without the script.

Last night I had the pleasure of interviewing a Streetball Legend who was apart of the AND 1 Mixtape Tour when it was at it's highest peak. He's a current streetball OG from the boondocks of New Jersey, you either moved out the way when you saw him coming or had endless dunks in the Playstation 2 video game street hoops and can never ever forget about the time he ripped the rim off the backboard and busted his head open on ESPN.

Some call him the Main Event but his Name is Waliyy Dixon the owner of the company Ball 4 Life.

40 Cal Interview with Main Event

40: Of course the whole world wants to know what you been up to since the glory days of the and 1 mixtapes so you know I got to start with that

Main Event: Just regrouping , working on a few projects , something's that's going to shock the World, focusing on my company , messing with Politics a little , my plate is full , just quiet right now cause A lot of idea thieves lurking lol

40: I hear that. How do you feel about today’s game of Streetball compared to when you played, do you feel it's lost a step, gotten better etc?

Main Event: Lost a Step, lol that's an understatement, we played for the love of the game, a lot of these Clowns playing for the fame, this not directed to park tourney but towards all these so called tours, a lot of your favorite ballers became Hookers of the Game Prostitutes in so many words. These clowns don't know the difference between Streetball and show ball, most is Show ball, globetrotter, and Harlem wizards’ type ball and know my opinion the Globetrotters are the best show ball team in the world.

40: Do you think we can ever get back to what we all were wittiness’s to once upon a time?

Main Event: With the right Guidance it can come back, right now u have people behind the scenes that really have no clue what Streetball is all about all they know is hot to make bread. They treat it like a Fad and a Fad it's not , it's a culture a safe haven no different from people that deal with problems from a statistic point of view rather than from being from the environment , understand this no diss just my Opinion

40: Understood. The passing of the late John Strickland hurt a lot of us last year, who was John Strickland to you?

Main Event: Aw man Strick that was my dude always kept it 100, on n off the court.

40: If you could have any 5 from Streetball past and present to take on the NBA's best 5 from today who would you pick and why?

Main Event: Joe Hammond, Pee Wee Kirkland, fly Guy Williams, the Goat and myself , it's hard to match up , them young boys body is diff , the food is diff from back then, but the guys I named Played for the Love of the Game imagine if the money was how it is now...woooow

40: Last question, if you could change anything about Streetball what would it be?

Main Event: I would reach out to the real Streetballers, it's time for new faces, it's a lot of Ballers out here all they need is an opportunity. Gimmicks don't last long so it won't be long before its back to its rightful owners and that's the Streets.
Main Event Streetball Highlights

Peep the classic footage just in case your to young to know what you missed.

Great streetball interview from 40 Cal and Main Event. It's important to understand the history of Streetball - so we can move forward instead of looking back. By the way, And1 was started by Seth Berger when he was at business school at Wharton. He sold And1 to a private equity firm called TA Associates. I know a few guys at TA Associates when I was in investment banking before I founded Streetball. Since 2006, I've been on the grind trying to re-brand Streetball as REAL BASKETBALL. TA Associates then sold it to another company...

The old leadership of AND1 and its corporate sponsors pimped streetball out to make a quick dollar and it crippled the industry. AND1 turned teammates into foes and tournament directors into isolated entities that competed against one another. It's like Jay-Z said, "If you put crabs in the barrel to ensure your survival, you gonna end up pullin down ballers that look just like you."

Streetball in a large part still thinks it's in a barrel fighting for survival. Streetball Tournament Directors are still fighting for scraps. I don't fight for scraps.

We have to all come together - which WILL happen b/c Together We Can't Be Stopped. There are over 500 million people around the world that are fans of Streetball.

Great interview 40 Cal. Much appreciated. Best of luck to Main Event as well. The Streetball Fam always knows how to reach me...